Have Arsenal Really Matured? Or Will It Be That Same old Feeling In May??

Since this week is the international break it gives us some time to look back on the past few matches for our beloved club Arsenal FC. I have never really been a fan of these stupid breaks, as quite frankly when you support Arsenal, by the time these matches are over half our squad are out until next season.

Since the Carling Cup Final our season has been like a demand curve. We beat Orient 5-0, but nobody really cared much about that, and then we drew at Sunderland. After that it was Barcelona night, and then we blew it at the Theatre of dreams. Then, 1 week later we came back from 2-0 to draw 2-2- yup, it was the same day in which our beloved keeper went walk about and costs us valuable points!

Now we face a 2 week lay-off, and then face Blackburn at home. Amongst many of Wenger’s excuses, we have heard this one quite a lot. “We have matured”. Oh, sure we have Arsene. What exactly does maturity mean? Does it mean to come back from 2 goals down, or does it mean not conceding? Does it mean to win titles, or does it mean to grind out wins under unfavourable circumstances?

What is it? Are we taking some particular club into consideration, such as a Manchester United or a Chelsea, or are we just going with the flow that someday this Arsenal team shall grow a pair of %^$#s !

Now Wenger says we have matured, but that can mean so many things. Maturity may refer to individual players as well. Nasri, Cesc, Theo have all matured because they are playing much better than what they use to play. Nasri, last season just showed his skills in certain matches. Theo could not cross a ball. Now if we compare them between the 2 periods, just see the improvement. That is progress, and that is becoming more mature.

26th February, 2008 we had a very young Arsenal team, and that showed after the incident at St, Andrews. After that point our season just went from lower to even lower. Next season we screwed it up again. In 2009 we played well, but again had nothing to show for it. In the season of 2010/11, we threw away a 4 goal lead. We lost to teams which we should have beaten at home and of course there are a few more incidents.

So have we matured? Have we grown as a team ? To say “No, we have not” would be wrong. We have, but there’s a catch. We have defended 1-0 leads, we beat Chelsea at the Emirates. We smashed City, and ‘sometimes’ we won ugly. But when our manager says we have matured on Arsenal.com or wherever, he should in all honesty add it up with an asterix. Something like this – Maturity*… Implying that, we have matured but it has been marginal. The good thing is that it has been an improvement, but not at the level at which we desire .

The sad thing is that our improvement has been so marginal that it has not really affected our game to the level at which is needed. Rather it’s just at a mediocre level, and that’s why we can’t really feel the effect of this Arsenal Team. The Invincibles of 03-04, was one hell of a team. A fully matured team. What we have is a step by step work-in-progress which nobody knows when will completely click.

For 6 years we have been waiting for this team to mature. Yes, 6. When it will reach its maturity level, I bet even our manager has no clue. Can he do something to fix it, or to put it in a better way, speed up the process? Maybe, maybe not…

What I want to see, which if I may add will never happen, is for the manager to fire a few players so that they can come on track. ‘Fire’ here, of course means the rough treatment. (Why, what did you think?) Guys like Denilson, Diaby, Rosicky, Almunia (if he ever plays) and Chamakh. I understand the logic of not giving young players the firing treatment because that may hamper their confidence, but the above players are old enough and in all fairness don’t play according to the standard the club demands. As I have said before, at least Rosicky and Abou try, but ‘Shorty’ here doesn’t even bother. And as far as our goalie is concerned , I just have 1 word for him: “Schmuck.”

But, our manager as most Gooners already know, has such an inflated ego, he won’t bother. What is in front of him, he will neglect, and what he wants and thinks is only right. Most Gooners of course think he is right all the time and who knows why… I really don’t understand the man, does he think by saying the words “ I have faith“ 500 times, that a player like Denilson will suddenly become a Gilberto Silva? Or has he (AW) been drugged?

What the hell happened to Denilson? Did London life get to the fella? I remember in the ‘07 season when I told my brother that he was going to be a good player because that time he did his job well. He defended, and he attacked, well, at least he did not gave 5 out of 5 passes backwards. Usually players grow from there, but this guy went the other way..

I seriously have started to lose all faith in the personnel of the club. Denilson for me is a t**t and as far as AW is concerned, I have to frequently search on YouTube or Google for some of his interviews and special quotes, just so that candle of hope keeps burning. Respect for the man is not that far behind also. What he has done for the club is immense, but what he is doing is just ruining that image. Keeping a guy like Denilson who is 23, and plays like a lazy turd. Diaby who I still have no clue what position he plays at, because neither does he attack properly nor does he defend. And that guy is 24. Rosicky, who shines occasionally, but never steps up when we want him to. Among the 3 if I had to choose the guy to stay, it would be him. They call him the Little Mozart for a reason, and he can bring his game to that level again, which I doubt, then guys like Cesc can take a day-off or two.

I hear the club gave up some amount of money ( £7 ml pounds) to improve some public facilities to come to the Emirates. What a joke ? A team has to perform for fans to come. You can have a helicopter hover around the stadium to watch matches, but unless the team has the will to play, it won’t make a ******g difference.

Now as a fan I have the sole duty to support my team till the end, and as a fan, I have. However at the same time, I have the right to get pissed off at my team for not playing to their potential. Be it Barca, United or West Brom that was not the real Arsenal FC playing. It was just a bunch of guys kicking a football, and that’s not our style.

So, is the real Arsenal FC among us? Is there anymore a real Arsenal FC or is this team a shadow of the Great Arsenal Past? Will ‘that’ team ever walk among the league again?

At this point the future does not seem too bright, but maybe this break can do something (hopefully). Although if that maniac is still in goal I have no idea what is going to happen….

5 Comments

lewis

March 22, 2011 at 8:23 pm

I hear the club gave up some amount of money ( £7 ml pounds) to improve some public facilities to come to the Emirates. What a joke ? A team has to perform for fans to come. You can have a helicopter hover around the stadium to watch matches, but unless the team has the will to play, it won’t make a ******g difference.

We had to include this in order to approve the move to the stadium. And….this is for the benefit of the arsenal fan so they can get to/from the game with more ease….not a way of getting more people to the emirates as it is already sold out.

maturity is one thing…experience is another. A lot of our players have vast amounts of EPL experience. So in my eyes they are mature enough. Besides, under Wenger’s development we will always be 3-4 players short. You can’t fail to notice how young team is. Its so young that the bench is full of kids. Whenever things go wrong we have to bring in an inexperienced 18yr old.

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